Ball loading machine



' Sept; 1946- F. B. 'KALISTER ET AL 2,407, 016

BALL LOADING MACHINE Filed April $0, 1945 I s Sheets-Sheet 1 FkA/vK B.KALISTER JAMES O. STAFFORD BY FRANK J. KONYVKA 5 ATTORNEY 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS FRANK B. KALJSTfER f JAMES Q STAFFORD FRANK J. KONYVKASept. 3, 1946. 4 F. a. KA LI5TER Er'm.

' BALLLOADING MACHINE Filed A ri1-'so,.1945

p 3946- F, B. KALISTER ET AL BALL LOADING MACHINE Fileri April 50, 19453 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS FRANK B. KALISTER JAMES 0. STAFFORD FRANK J.KONYVKA Arron Y Patented Sept. 3, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BALLLOADING MACHINE Frank B. Kalister, Cleveland, James O. Stafford,Painesville, and Frank J. Konyvka, Maple Heights, Ohio, assignors, bymesne assignments, to Jack & Heintz Precision Industries, Inc.,Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application April 30, 1945,Serial No. 591,132

. Claims. 1

This invention relates to a novel machine for inserting balls in ballbearing races. The object of the invention, in general, is to produce ahopper fed machine for automatically inserting a proper number of ballsin the races of ball bearing assemblies with a minimum of handling andattention required by an operator to achieve greater speed in productionthan is possible by hand assembly, and to facilitate cleanliness bykeeping the highly polished balls in a closed hopper until they areassembled with their associated bearing races.

Other objects and advantages become apparent as the specificationproceeds in connection with a preferred embodiment illustrated in theaccompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional view through the machine of the presentinvention taken approximately on the line I, l of Figure 2;

Figure 2 is a plan View of the machine;

Figure 3 is a sectional view through the ball hopper;

Figure 4 is a sectional view approximately at right angles to Figure 1,taken on the line 4, 4 of Figure 2, and showing the parts in a differentposition than Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken approximately along lines 5, 5 ofFigure 2; and

Figure 6 is a top plan view of the vertical ram.

The parts of the present machine extend above and below a table or benchtop I, carrying a shelf 2, provided with an incline slide 3 for feedingball races by gravity. The slide 3 is preferably covered by atransparent panel 4 to exclude dust from the ball races as they are fedinto the machine. Supported upon the table I is a ball hopper 5, havinga cover 6, carrying a hand operated agitator or stirring element 1. Thebottom of the hopper is provided with a number of openings 8 equal tothenumber of balls to be inserted in each bearing assembly, and transparenttubes 9 are provided in the manner shown to carry the balls down to aloading chamber Ill.

The loading chamber l0 comprises a vertical cylindrical bore in asupporting block ll beneath theball hopper, a piston I2 is slidablyreceived within the bore and loading chamber [0 so as to occupy a lowerposition as shown in Figure 1 to normallyretain the balls in thetubes 9and preventtheir admission into the loading chamber until ,the propertime. The piston l2 carries anagitating rod 13 extending inwardly intothe bottom of the ball hopper 5, the piston audacitator being urged totheir lowermost position by a spring H. A groove [5 in one side of thepiston receives the end of a set screw IE to prevent rotation of thepiston and to provide limits for its motion in reciprocation.

The loading chamber I 0 is provided with rounded corners I! at its lowerend and terminates at a distance above the table slightly greater thanthe thickness of the ball races to be loaded. Directly beneath theloading chamber I0 is a circular opening IS in the table I, receiving averticle ram l9 having a disc-like cam follower 20 adapted to beconstantly rotated and intermittently raised and lowered by a cam 2| ona power driven shaft 22. The upperend of the ram I9 is provided with ahemispherical ball center 23 and a plurality of sharp radial projections2-4 for purposes to be presently described. A spring 25 resilientlyurges the ram l9 into constant driving engagement with the cam 2|. Agear 26, on the shaft 22, drives a gear 2! which in turn meshes with agear 28 carrying a finger 29 positioned to impart a step-by-stepmovement to a star Wheel 30. The purpose of the star wheel 30 is todrive the intermittent feed disc 3! which receives ball races from thelower end of the slide 3 and transfers them one at a time into positionbetween the ram I9 and the loading chamber [0. A curved guide rail 32cooperates with the intermittent feed disc 3| in obtaining the properalignment of the ball races as they arrive under the loading chamber 10.In order to prevent any coasting action of disc 3| and to assist thelatter in the proper positioning of the ball race a leaf spring 44 issecured at 45 to overlap the disc and provide a predetermined resilientbraking action on the latter. For convenience in cleaning or removing ajammed part, a clamp 46 is provided to hold the ball loader, as a unit,secure. Dowel pins 41 and 48 are used to hold the ball loader as a unitin direct alignment with feed disc 3|. This provides a quick and easymeans for repair and maintenance of the machine.

The above described mechanism is driven by an electric motor 33 to areduction gearing 34 and an overload release clutch 35 so that if anypart of the feeding mechanism should jam, the clutch 35 would over-rideto prevent damage to the parts.

The present embodiment of the invention is designedfor loading six ballsinto an annular cage 40 associated with an outer race 4| of the typeshown. In the present instance the cage .40 is made of non-metallicmaterial having ball apertures 42 in the form of sockets having aninside of the revolving ram #8.

clined slightly downwardly and spaced radially at 60 intervals aroundthe loading chamber. Since the cages ii] are not indexed in rotation asthey are raised into the loading chamber-the ball apertures 42 did notnecessarily register with the bores d3 without some amount of rotation.For this purpose the cam 2! is provided with a high portion having anannular extension sufficient to impart rotation to the cage M3, at leastequal to.

the angular spacing of the ball apertures. This annular rotation mayexceed the spacing of the balls and may be arranged to provide passageof each ball aperture into registry with at least two successive bores43 if desired.

' As previously stated, two of the primary objects of the presentmachine are to achieve a rapid assembly for production line operationwith little manual attention, and the exclusion of dust and foreignparticles which would render the bearing assemblies unsuitable fordelicate precision instruments. The present machine accomplishes theseprimary objects by providing a feeding and loading mechanism capable ofrather rapid operation and by obviating handling of the parts andprolonged exposure to atmospheric dust and other sources ofcontamination.

In operating the machine an operator has merely to load the ball-hopperfrom time to tim which does not involve contact of the highly polishedballs with the skin or perspiration of the operator, and the feeding ofthe races from the shelf 2 into the slide 3, which may also beaccomplished without requiring actual contact with the operators hands.In their passage down the slide, the assemblie are protected from dustby the transparent cover' and an additional transparent cover may beprovided over the short feed path associated with'the feeding disc 3| soas to practically exclude the possibility of contamina-, tion throughoutthe whole feeding and loading operation.

In feeding the machine, the cages -68, having an external diameterslightly less than the smallest opening in the external race, are placedwithin the race, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, and the parts aredelivered in this relationship to a rest position immediately over theram i9 and beneath the loading chamber Ill. The cam 2| is timed withrespect to the feed disc 3| so that when an assembly has been placed inposition as shown in Figure l, the ram l9 will begin to elevate with arotary motion to carry the cage up into the loading chamber with ballapertures 42 on a level with the loading bores 43. The rounded cornersl1 facilitate entry of the cages into the loading chambenthe centeringaction being associated by the twist imparted to the cage by a pluralityof sharp projections 2 on the upper end Any slight misalignment of theassembly between feed disc 3| is corrected by the ball projection -23which automatiure -1 so that the ram l9 will pass freely through themiddle of the race 4!. If'the ball apertures 4-2 are not in registrywith the loading bores -43 4 when the cage arrives in loading positionthey will be rotated past one or more of the ball loading bores 43before the cage descends so as to insure certain loading of all theapertures. As the ram l9 descends, the loaded cage follows it into therace and then the loaded assembly is ejected by the movement of the nextassembly into position over the loading ram.

In the various views the balls have been omitted in certain instances tomore clearly show the op eration of the mechanism in the variouspositions of its parts, it being understood that the slide 3 is tobe'constantly'filled with assemblies as shown in Figure 2 and that thehopper 5 is to be kept supplied with balls, during the operation of themachine.

Thelpresentmachine may obviously be adapted to various assemblies ofdifferent types and having a diiferent number or so of balls, it beingunderstood that the present preferred embodiment is shown and describedmerely for the purpose "of illustrating the purpose of the invention.

All changes and modifications falling within the scope o'f the appendedclaims are included in the invention.

'We claim:

1. A ball loading machine comprising a ball loading chamber, a hopperfeed for supplying balls to said chamber in radial directionstherearou'nd, means for feeding ball cage and bearing racesub-assemblies one'at 'a time to a station adjacent said loadingchamber, and means for moving said cages out of-said bearing races-intosaid loading chamber with a longitudinal and rotarymotion so as tobring'said c'a'ges'into proper registry with said ball feedingmea'ns,

2. A ball loading machine comprising 'a ball loading chamber,a'plu'rality of ball feeding means entering said chamber radially atangles corresponding to the ball positions 'in the ball cageto beloaded, means for feeding cage and bearing race assemblies bintermittent motion to a s'tation adja'c'ent said loading chamber, andmeans geare'dto 'saidfeeding means for moving a cage out of itsassociated bearing race and into said loading chamber with alongitudinal and rotary motion and s'ubse'quentlyreplacing said ca'gewhen loaded within said bearing race' in' assembledrelation therewith.

3. A ball loading machine comprising a loading chamber, a plurality ofball feeding tubes entering said chamber radially at anglescorresponding to the arrangement of balls in the cage to be loaded,gravity feed means 'for delivering cage and bearing race sub-assembliesone at a time on a supporting surface, intermittent feed mechanismforfeedin'g said sub-assemblies 'to a station adjacent said loadingchamber, an'dintermittent- 1y reciprocating means for moving a cage outof its associated bearing race and into said loading chamber inalignment with said ball feeding means with a longitudinal and rotarymotion, and to returnsaid cage whenloa'd'e'd 't'o said'bearing race inassembled relation therewith, and over-riding clutch means fordisconnecting a sourc of power in the event of jamming of any part ofthe-mechanism.

4 A ball loading machine comprising a vertical' cylindrical ball loadingchamber, -a plurality of ball feeding'tubes-"entering said chamberradially, means to feed cage and bearing race assemblies to a station inalignment beneath said chamber, a vertical ram beneathsa'id station inalign- 4 merit with said-chamber, and means to 'raise'and rotate saidram to cause saidram'topass through 5 said bearing race carrying saidcage into said loading chamber with a rotary mation to cause ballapertures therein to register with said ball feeding means and tothereupon return to starting position to assemble the loaded cage withinsaid bearing race.

5. A ball loading machin comprising a vertical cylindrical loadingchamber, a plurality of ball feeding tubes entering said chamber inradial directions therearound, a piston within said chamber adapted tocover the ends of said ball feeding tubes to prevent the admission ofballs into said chamber, intermittent feeding mechanism for depositingbearing cage and race assemblies at a station vertically beneath saidloading chambers, a vertical ram beneath said station and aligned withsaid chamber, and means to raise and rotate said ram in intermittentmotion to cause said ram to pass through said race to elevate said cageand said piston and to rotate said cage as it is brought into ballloading position.

FRANK B. KALISTER. JAMES O. STAFFORD. FRANK J. KONYVKA.

